Danger is part of the attraction
PERSPECTIVE. The horrible incident involving 22-year-old Sean Abbott and 25-year-old Phil Hughes in Sydney this week, has provided plenty of perspective.
One of the highlights of my recent trip to Australia, was watching the duel between Dale Steyn and Michael Clarke in the first One-Day International in Perth.
That Waca pitch is arguably the quickest surface in the world and Steyn was keen on knocking the Australian captain’s head off. It’s part of what Steyn’s paid and picked to do. It’s part of the reason cricket’s such a thrill to watch.
Steyn bowled six balls at Clarke, five of them bouncers, four of those Clarke sought to defend, the fifth he tried an attacking stroke and was dismissed. Steyn won the battle. It made for captivating viewing.
Abbott to Hughes provided a different perspective to a similar kind of battle between a fast bowler and batsman. Hughes was batting for a place in the Australian team for the first Test against India in Brisbane next week. Abbott is among a host of young fast bowlers that Australian cricket has developed in recent years. In their respective spheres, they were both trying to make an impression.
Now, never mind a place in the Australia Test team, Hughes is fighting for his life. Abbott, quite understandably is distraught and receiving counselling. The former New Zealand international Iain O’ Brien has written a smartly balanced and sensitive piece on facing a bouncer and using one (Have a read here: http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/803363.html).
In it, he uses Steyn’s quote from a couple of years back: “Where else in the world do you get the opportunity to kill someone with two bouncers in an over legally?”
Looked at, given current events, that remark appears incredibly stupid. But as O’ Brien says, Steyn is “right”.
It may not be the sole or primary reason so many of us enjoy cricket, but the possibility of inflicting pain, the psychology of how batsmen deal with knowing they could get hurt and yet have to ignore those thoughts in order to score runs. Hockey players, Formula One drivers, boxers, rugby players, wrestlers, water polo players, horse racing jockeys, etc … there are dangers involved for all of them. The participants know it, we as viewers know it. It’s part of the attraction. Phil Hughes and Sean Abbott, knew it too, but the horror in such an event occurring can be almost impossible to deal with.
One can but only hope and pray that both survive this trying time and that they can resume combat once more.